I'm not sure its cricket to have FAQs if no one has asked any questions so these are UFAQs - Unasked Frequently Asked Questions. This is information people might be or should be asking for. Below are links to posts with general information about the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Where's the official AIFF site?
Who won in each category? Live blogging from the Awards Ceremony.
What do all the categories mean? ("official selection;" "films in competition," etc. ) (This is a post from last year, but still gets the basic information across.)
What films are the best films this year?
Films in Competition are the ones chosen to compete for the Golden Oosiker awards. Here are guides to each category - something about each film and when and where they will play.
Films in Competition - Features
Films in Competition - Documentaries
Films in Competition - Shorts
Films in Competition - Animation
Films in Competition - Short Documentaries [Coming Soon - sorry never got this one]
How do I find the what's in the programs of short films playing together?
Easiest place is the printed program. It's hard on line.
Animation Programs
Snowdance Programs (films made in Alaska or by Alaskans)
I'm not interested in the festival, but if there are any films on my favorite place, food, sport, etc., I'd go. Are there any?
Here's an overview of topics and countries in the films - This is intended for people who aren't particularly interested in the festival, but might come to a few showings because a film is about a particular country or in a particular language or about a particular subject. This doesn't cover everything, but as much as I can identify. I'll keep updating. [coming soon - another good intention that never materialized.]
How do I find posts on specific films or film makers? (check the video posts below too)
11/21 Frozen Shorts
11/22 Dear Lemon Lima (Lima as in bean)
11/23 Fat Bike
12/09 Ryan Ward's Son of the Sunshine (also under videos)
[A lot of this went to the videos - see that list below.]
Do you have videos of the Festival? - I'll try to keep these up to date, but things get a bit hectic once the festival starts. I've tried to date these when they were shot rather than posted.
11/24/09 Rand Thornsley in his office (AIFF President and main programer)
12/1/09 Tony Sheppard on this year's Features (AIFF Founder and Features programer)
12/03/09 Anchorage animator Paxson Woelber
12/04/09 Audience Comments after Hipsters
12/04/09 Callum Paterson Animation Workshop Presenter/Film maker
12/05/09 Beth Varner Volunteer Coordinator
12/05/09 Devi Snively, Director of Death in Charge
12/06/09 Tapped Audience Reactions
12/06/09 Mount St. Elias Audience Reactions
12/08/09 Natalie Eleftheradis and James Harkness Celebrate "Birthday"
12/09/09 Bear Tooth Theater
12/09/09 Know Your Mushrooms and Trip to Hell and Back
12/09/09 Son of Sunshine Director Ryan Ward (short video at bottom of long post)
12/09/09 Cedric Sanders Q&A after showing of The Least Among You
12/09/09 Cedric Sanders in the Lobby
12/09/09 Audience Reactions to The Least Among You (The Sanders videos are all in the same post)
12/10/09 Short Interview with an AIFF Volunteer
12/10/09 Audience Comments: Adopt a Sailor, Circus Rosaire, Son of the Sunshine, Birthday, Against the Current, Shadow Billionaire, Paddle to Seattle, American Primitive, and Godspeed.
12/11/09 Jennifer Burns and Vincent P. Falk on Vincent
12/12/09 Security Guard talks about AIFF
12/13/09 Filmmakers Maddux, Bliley, and Burns talk about AIFF
12/13/09 Vincent Part 2: Director Jennifer Burns after last showing of Vincent.
12/13/09 Best of the Fest Annouced at Awards Ceremony
12/14/09 Albert Shin on his film Point Traverse
12/15/09 Viewer talks about Point Traverse
Where will the films be shown?
Locations: Bear Tooth, Out North, Museum, Alaska Experience Theater,
Marston Theater (Loussac Library) Sat. Dec. 12 Family Programming
What workshops are there?
Link goes to a list of the special workshops (scroll down the page) and a bit about the visiting film maker presenters. [Link goes to AIFF page right now. I'll add more stuff soon. Warning - Animation workshop is this Saturday - Dec. 5 - 3pm at Out North. ]
What are your criteria for a good movie? When I made my picks for last year's best films, at the end of the post I outlined my criteria. The link takes you to that post, scroll down to second part.
Should I buy a pass or just buy tickets as I go?
Tickets are $7 per film. All films passes are $75. So, if you go to eleven films, the pass is clearly the better deal. But there are other benefits to the pass. You do have to get a ticket (free) for each film and only a certain number of seats are held for passholders, but you do get priority seating with your pass.
And if you have a pass, you'll go see more films because you'll think "I've paid for them. I should go and get my money's worth."
All Films and Events passes are $95. This gets you into Workshops, a few extra events, like the opening night film (which is actually $25 a ticket) and the awards These extra events also have food.
[Update: another option is to volunteer and get a pass to a movie.]
The website ticket page has all the details.
What about family films? [Coming soon]
Saturday, December 12 at Loussac - in the Marston Auditorium. Check the printed program or the website.
Who Are You Anyways? - who's paying you to do this? does your brother have a film in competition? What is your connection to the festival? From an earlier post here's my
Disclosure:
Well I blogged the 2007 festival and the AIFF people liked what I did and asked if I would be the official blogger last year. They promised me I could say what I wanted, but I decided it was better to blog on my own and then if I write something that upsets one of the film makers, the Festival isn't responsible. They had a link to the blog last year. They also threw in a free pass for me last year and this year.
I probably won't say anything terrible about a film, but I did rant about one film two years that I thought was exploiting its subject as well as boorishly demeaning a whole country. I mentioned in an earlier post that if I sound a little promotional at times, it's only because I like films and I like the kinds of quirky films that show up at festivals, so I want as many people to know about the festival as possible so the festival will continue. Will I fudge on what I write to get people out? No way. There are plenty of people in Anchorage who like films. They're my main target. To get them out of the house in the dark December chill when inertia tugs heavily if they even think about leaving the house. But if others who normally don't go out to films hear about a movie on a topic they're into, that's good too.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
APU Presidential Search - Finalists' Background Information
I've been absorbed in other things so I haven't posted this biographical information on the Alaska Pacific University Presidential search finalists I got the other day. Click the link for other posts on the APU presidential search (and other posts with APU mentioned.) The search committee is scheduled to make a decision December 10 and a public announcement in early January.
BACKGROUND ON THE FIVE FINALISTS IN APU PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH
Dr. Betsy Vogel Boze, former Campus Dean and CEO Kent State University at Stark, North Canton, OH Dr. Boze is a Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, DC. She is a Professor of Business Administration at Kent State University Stark and CEO and Campus Dean from 2005 through 2009.
As inaugural dean, Boze led the School of Business at the University of Texas at Brownsville from 1994‐2005. She was a Master Planner in the creation of the UT TeleCampus and served as Assistant to the President of Tulane University as an American Council of Education Fellow. She earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas, and her MBA and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Southern Methodist University.
From 1989 to 1994, Dr. Boze lived in Anchorage and served as Chair of the Business Administration Department, and Professor of Marketing, at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
She is widely published on post‐secondary education, marketing and distance learning.
Ms. Bernice Joseph, ViceChancellor Rural, Community & Native Education, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK Ms. Joseph has worked at University of Alaska in Fairbanks, Alaska since 2001, serving in the position of Vice‐Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Commissioner in the Department of Commerce & Economic Development, a position she was appointed to by Governor Tony Knowles. She also served as an Instructor and Assistant Professor at UAF from 1994 through 2000 teaching courses in grant writing, management and community planning. She earned her MBA and Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is currently a Ph.D. candidate with the University of South Australia.
Ms. Joseph is a life‐long Alaskan and a long‐time resident of Fairbanks, Alaska and has held a number of positions with Doyon Limited, the Fairbanks Native Association and Doyon Foundation. She is an active Board member of many local non‐profit organizations, and was recognized in 2003 with “Citizen of the Year” presented by Doyon, Limited. In 2006 UAF recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award for Community Support, and in 2008 she received the Chiefs Knife Award from Alaska Village Initiatives for her commitment to education.
Dr. Don Bantz, Academic Vice President & Provost Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA Dr. Bantz has worked at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington since 1988, teaching in the Master’s of Public Administration Program, serving three years as Academic Dean and for the past six years as Academic Vice President & Provost. He earned his Ph.D. and MA in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and is a graduate of Fullerton State University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Management and Marketing.
From 1974 through 1986, Dr. Bantz lived in Anchorage where he worked in the community health field first with the Alaska Federation of Natives, and then serving as Executive Director for the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center. In 1984 he was recognized as Alaska Public Administrator of the Year.
Dr. J. Andy Sheppard, Academic Vice President Southwestern College, Winfield, KS Dr. Sheppard has worked at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas since 1997, teaching Philosophy and Religion, serving as Associate Dean of Faculty and for the past six years as Academic Vice President. He earned his Ph.D. in History of Philosophy from the University of Sheffield, England, his MA in Historical Theology from the Iliff School of Theology and is a graduate of Bethany College with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.
Dr. Sheppard is widely published on the subjects of medieval philosophy and religion and was awarded a three year ORS Fellowship by the Committee of Vice‐Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom on the basis of merit and research potential.
Dr. Steven Corey, Executive Vice President Prescott College, Prescott, AZ Dr. Corey has worked at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona since 2001, serving as Executive Vice President and teaching Nonprofit Management and Entrepreneurship. Prior to that he worked at Cumberland University in Tennessee for nine years, serving as Assistant Athletic Director, Vice President for Athletics, and Vice President for Administration. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Finance from the University of Arizona, his MBA from Cumberland University, his Master of Science from Arizona State University and is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Dr. Corey has served as a member of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education since 2006 and is currently Chair, having been appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano and reappointed by Governor Jan Brewer. He also served as an adviser to Governor Brewer’s transition team for higher education and is active in many national and local civic and professional organizations.
AIFF 2009 - Tony Sheppard on This Year's Feature Films
I talked to Tony Sheppard, founder of the Anchorage International Film Festival, and now the Feature Programer, in his office yesterday, a few days before the opening of this year's festival.
(One tiny note. Dear Lemon Lima is pronounced as the bean, not Peru's capital. I wonder if a linguist could explain why everyone I've run into has made this mistake.)
(One tiny note. Dear Lemon Lima is pronounced as the bean, not Peru's capital. I wonder if a linguist could explain why everyone I've run into has made this mistake.)
Municipality of Anchorage's New Fitness Plan
Perhaps Mayor Sullivan noted the study that reported that Alaska is the 18th most obese state and he decided we all need more exercise. Knowing that we need to slim down, but that we resist efforts to make us healthier, I'm guessing that the Mayor simply ordered Public Works to leave snow berms across people's driveways when they finally got around to plowing. I'm certainly fitter. You can see the before and after pictures below.
Our driveway BEFORE I shovelled.
Our Driveway AFTER I shovelled.
And here's one of our newly buff neighbors. You can see the pile of snow he moved. And this isn't light fluffy snow. This was packed down, chunky, wet snow.
Thanks Dan, I needed to get out and exercise. Keep this up and we'll all be so fit we won't even need health insurance.
Our driveway BEFORE I shovelled.
Our Driveway AFTER I shovelled.
And here's one of our newly buff neighbors. You can see the pile of snow he moved. And this isn't light fluffy snow. This was packed down, chunky, wet snow.
Thanks Dan, I needed to get out and exercise. Keep this up and we'll all be so fit we won't even need health insurance.
Monday, November 30, 2009
City sNOw Plowing Blues
From the Muni website, here's the Municipal "Plow-Out" . . . policy? Target? Rule of thumb? I'm not sure what to call it. Typicality?
The snowfall wasn't particularly heavy and our street still has yet to be plowed. Now it was Thanksgiving. But that was Thursday, not Friday. And the website does say:Snow Plowing and Removal
After a snowfall, Street Maintenance crews typically have snow plowed within 72 hours. This is referred to as a “Plow-Out”. As the snow is plowed, Street Maintenance crews begin removing and hauling the snow to designated storage sites. This cycle will continue after every major snow fall.
Click on the following links to find your area on the Plow-Out Map, or to check the status of current Plow-Outs.
Snow Plow-Out Plans
During the winter season (October through May) Street Maintenance crews work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week providing snow plowing, snow removal, ice prevention and de-icing on Municipal maintained streets and sidewalks.And I checked the Muni Snow Plow Status Map that shows (you can double click to enlarge it)
Well, I'm not sure this the snow plow status map. It does say street-sweeping map. (I didn't catch that part in my screen shot.) But it also says as of Monday, 30 November 2009, so I have to assume it isn't a street sweeping map.
As of 6am this morning, it looks like about half of Anchorage hadn't been cleared yet. Their snow plow out plan has 1/3 done Day 1, 1/3 done Day 2, and 1/3 done Day 3. Going on Day 4, they had done maybe 1/2.
The snow plow out plan says that my neighborhood is either due to get plowed the first day (Plan A) or the third day (Plan B) after it snows. But I'm not really sure how to tell when it's Plan A or Plan B.
Anyway, I don't know why, I just know the city is behind their own schedule for plowing the streets. I'm expected to have my car off the street until they plow. With a one car garage and wife-gets-the-garage rule at our house, that isn't always easy. If I could tell when they were going to plow it would be easier. But the snow is so bad right now, I had trouble getting it across the street and onto a vacant space on my neighbor's property. And you can see the truck in the video above.
AIFF 2009 - Animated Films in Competition
There are TEN animated films in competition. They represent a wide range of styles and topics. There are two programs (groups of shorts in one showing.) My advice is to go see both. Some of the most creative work is done in animation.
Five of the Animated films in competition are in the Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life (there are 19 films in this program) and seven of the films in competition in this category are in the Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1 (This program has 18 films altogether) Three films - Calypso, The Mouse that Soared, and Topi - managed to get into both programs.
All the showings are at Out North (3800 Debarr at Primrose - one block west of Bragaw) Though the winner will probably be shown again sometime between Dec. 13-17. And if last year is a guide, there will be a slot for a short before many of the feature length films.
These are listed in alphabetically order. With so many, you might get tired and not get to the bottom. That would be a big mistake. Be sure to look at the last ones too.
There are a similar posts on documentaries in competiton, features in competition, and shorts in competition.
Burn the Whole Place Down U.K. 11 minutes
Director: Adam Comiskey
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
When trapped onboard a container ship with nowhere to run, all the band can do is keep playing.
Picture and interview excerpt below from the BBC:
Calypso Australia 9 minutes
Director: Jack Parry
(Calypso managed to get into both Animation Programs)
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
Photo above, screenshot to the left, and Director's Statement below from Calypso website:
Dried Up U.S. 6 minutes
Directors: Stuart Bury, Jeremy Casper and Isaiah Powers
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
The Dried Up website: has a lengthy discussion of how they made this short. Six minutes of film after eight months. Animation is laborious and the section titled Making of Dried Up might help others in the future, or if you're just curious how they did it.
Dried Up from Cecil on Vimeo.
Duck [Heart] Teslacoil U.S. 6 minutes
Director: Tyler Kupferer
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
A young duck learns how to deal with a bus stop menace through the use of high voltage weaponry.
Photo (SCAD = Savannah College of Art and Design) and text from an interview in Connect Savannah:
Hugo in the Land of Lemonsharks U.S. 3:20 minutes
From Presurfer:
where I got this full copy of Hugo. Face shot is from Paxson's Facebook page.
Warning this is the whole thing, not just the trailer.
Hugo in the Land of the Lemonsharks from Paxson Woelber on Vimeo.
Paxson's from Anchorage, so I expect he'll be up here for the festival and he'll probably be available to answer questions after the showing.
See video interview of Paxson in Anchorage. [coming Dec. 4]
I Slept With Cookie Monster U.S. 3 minutes
Director: Kara Nasdor-Jones
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Kara Nasdor-Jones writes on her beautifully designed blog that she's interested in exploring serious issues using animation because it's unexpected.
Manifestations U.S. 4 minutes
Director: Giles Timms
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Giles Timms is from Wales, and got his MFA this year at the UCLA Animation Workshop in the School of Theater, Film and Television. In an interview with channelfrederator,
Manifestations from Giles Timms on Vimeo.
The Mouse That Soared U.S. 6 minutes
Director: Kyle Bell
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
A famous flying circus mouse reflects on his humble beginnings in this high-altitude adventure in aerodynamics.
The Mouse's blog says he won Best Animation screened at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the West Hollywood International Film Festival, where "the ghosts of Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe were rumored to be in attendance." TMTS won 'Best Animation' again at the HollyShorts film Festival and the 'Audience Favorite Animation' award too. And again at the Malibu Film Festival it won 'Best Animation' and 'Audience Choice Animation'. We have to assume that in the center of the beast down there in LA, the audience is pretty picky. So this is one to watch.
You can get a hint from the trailer from Kyle Bell's YouTube page. Bell is described as "a veteran filmmaker" and while the student done films are dazzling in one aspect or another, you can see a more completely filled out film here, just in the trailer. Also check out The Mouse that Soared website.
Skylight Canada 5 minutes
Director: David Baas
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
There's a lot of posts online about this film, but what I could find were either basic descriptions of what happens and/or spoilers. It's called by some a mock documentary on climate change. Just go see it and enjoy it.
Topi U.S. 6 minutes
Director: Arjun Rihan
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
From the AIFF description:
The film maker's website is exquisite. The visuals there from the film are . . . I don't want to say exquisite again, how about 'amazing'? Go look at the website and come to see this film. And Arjun will be in the audience with you according to his blog:
I have a very good feeling about this film.
To see all the posts on this year's festival you can go to the label (lower right column) Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF 2009)
Five of the Animated films in competition are in the Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life (there are 19 films in this program) and seven of the films in competition in this category are in the Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1 (This program has 18 films altogether) Three films - Calypso, The Mouse that Soared, and Topi - managed to get into both programs.
All the showings are at Out North (3800 Debarr at Primrose - one block west of Bragaw) Though the winner will probably be shown again sometime between Dec. 13-17. And if last year is a guide, there will be a slot for a short before many of the feature length films.
These are listed in alphabetically order. With so many, you might get tired and not get to the bottom. That would be a big mistake. Be sure to look at the last ones too.
There are a similar posts on documentaries in competiton, features in competition, and shorts in competition.
Burn the Whole Place Down U.K. 11 minutes
Director: Adam ComiskeyProgram: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
When trapped onboard a container ship with nowhere to run, all the band can do is keep playing.
Picture and interview excerpt below from the BBC:
"There is a misconception computers have made the job easier - they have made it cheaper and quicker. But we still need highly skilled artists to sit and press the buttons and do the long hours," explained Adam
Adam says he has not had a day off since May 2008 - only a power cut late the previous evening stopped the team from working into the early hours of the morning. The determination to get to the final result is what keeps them going.
"It is boring, there are long hours and there has to be something wrong with you to want to do it, quite honestly! But we do do it and we do enjoy it, we always keep our mind on the bigger picture. It's not just about that picture you are drawing - again - it's about working in the team and thinking about the final result at the end.
Director: Jack Parry
(Calypso managed to get into both Animation Programs)
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
Photo above, screenshot to the left, and Director's Statement below from Calypso website:Music talks to me. Whenever I hear an intriguing melody I start to see stories in my head. First they appear as jumbled insights then slowly it all starts to gel and make sense. The first piece of the story of CALYPSO came to me several years ago listening to music in the car. I had been particularly charmed by one piece of music. I had been listening to it over and over again on the way to work when one day without warning the music took a hold of me and shouted its story out loud. I could see it there as clearly as I see it now as a finished film. I felt an absolute release of emotions and by the end I had tears in my eyes. This is not a recommended activity whilst driving in peak hour traffic. The hardest part for me in this film has been trying to imbue in others the rich and magical feelings I have had contained within me for this whole journey. I hope that now the film is finally finished you can all share its story too.
Jack Parry, June 2009
Dried Up U.S. 6 minutes
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
The Dried Up website: has a lengthy discussion of how they made this short. Six minutes of film after eight months. Animation is laborious and the section titled Making of Dried Up might help others in the future, or if you're just curious how they did it.
Making Of Dried UpThe video also comes from their website. Warning - this is the whole short, not just a clip.
We learned a lot while making this film and we would like to share those lessons. Hopefully when we catch up on a little more sleep we will be able to piece through the hazy memories and get some stuff updated here.
Like how to build a smooth camera dolly for 30USD. Or why not to use mould making latex for hand construction… or how cardboard and glue can make anything. And how cardboard is free and glue is expensive…
It began:
Dried Up was born out of a stopmotion/building class fall semester of 08. Jeremy and I planed to do a small collaboration project with each other in addition to our final thesis work. For being in an animation program we still grasped hold of that many times elusive naivety of what we could actually accomplish in an 8 month time frame. We now look back and laugh at our selves and our silly ideas.
Dried Up from Cecil on Vimeo.
Director: Tyler Kupferer
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
A young duck learns how to deal with a bus stop menace through the use of high voltage weaponry.
Photo (SCAD = Savannah College of Art and Design) and text from an interview in Connect Savannah:
What was the genesis of Duck Heart Teslacoil?Video from digitalheartsawards. Warning: This is the whole film, not just a clip.
Tyler J. Kupferer: It was originally inspired by a piece of vector artwork featuring a monster and a bunny. The instant I saw the flat style, I wondered: “What would that look like animated?” Several months later, while at an ideas pitch session, I thought up the concept of DHT in about five minutes, based on the idea I thought Tesla coils were under–represented in modern cinema. After that, the idea seemed more and more plausible.
In addition to writing, directing and producing the film you also did the animation and provided one of the voices. Between all of those jobs do you have a preference?
Tyler J. Kupferer: Of all the hats I wear when producing my short films, directing is by far my favorite. I think one of the reasons I enjoy directing so much is because I take an interest in all other aspects of production, and directing challenges me to address the unique tasks of each role in a way that must lead to a single cohesive piece. The directing role is what keeps me concentrated on every aspect of storytelling and how it relates to my audience.
Duck Heart Teslacoil from Base14 on Vimeo.
Director: Paxson Woelber
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
ALSO in:
Snowdance 3
Saturday, December 5 – 12:30pm – Bear Tooth
Tuesday, December 8 – 5:30pm – Out North
Snowdance 3
Saturday, December 5 – 12:30pm – Bear Tooth
Tuesday, December 8 – 5:30pm – Out North
From Presurfer:
An animation by Paxson Woelber (born in Alaska, currently living in New York). Hugo in the Land of the Lemonsharks is a tale of chivalry, heartache, valor, and, of course, screaming shred guitar.I would add that the visuals are pretty stunning in this short animation. You can see some of Paxson's other art work and animation at his website: http://www.paxsonwoelber.com/
where I got this full copy of Hugo. Face shot is from Paxson's Facebook page.
Warning this is the whole thing, not just the trailer.
Hugo in the Land of the Lemonsharks from Paxson Woelber on Vimeo.
Paxson's from Anchorage, so I expect he'll be up here for the festival and he'll probably be available to answer questions after the showing.
See video interview of Paxson in Anchorage. [coming Dec. 4]
I Slept With Cookie Monster U.S. 3 minutes
Director: Kara Nasdor-Jones
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Kara Nasdor-Jones writes on her beautifully designed blog that she's interested in exploring serious issues using animation because it's unexpected.
"My last project, "I Slept With Cookie Monster," was very much a healing process for me since I began the film while fighting to end the abusive relationship I was in. Forcing myself to dive into these extremely sensitive issues and visually work through them helped me to understand many critical issues in the healing process."The video won the Grand Prize For Best Student Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last year. The video can be seen on her website. Since it is not embedable, I'm not posting it here. It's beautifully done well worth seeing as the Ottawa prize suggests.
Manifestations U.S. 4 minutesDirector: Giles Timms
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
Giles Timms is from Wales, and got his MFA this year at the UCLA Animation Workshop in the School of Theater, Film and Television. In an interview with channelfrederator,
CF: . . .“Manifestations” is pretty trippy - how did you develop the concept for the film?Whole video WARNING. From his website.
GT: “Manifestations” actually started out as a single scene exercise/experiment I set for myself to learn After Effects. Once I had that initial scene and then Ceri’s wonderful music I started to develop the story outward from those two pieces. It really helped me to have Ceri’s music at the very beginning of the project as I was able to listen to the music and create the scenes and story in my head. The whole process though was rather experimental for me and certainly an aspect of the film is very much me trying to push myself as an animator and filmmaker. My process was also a bit unconventional in that I ended up with about 8 minutes of animation that I edited down to 4 minutes But I learned a lot.
Manifestations from Giles Timms on Vimeo.
Director: Kyle Bell
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
A famous flying circus mouse reflects on his humble beginnings in this high-altitude adventure in aerodynamics.
The Mouse's blog says he won Best Animation screened at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the West Hollywood International Film Festival, where "the ghosts of Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe were rumored to be in attendance." TMTS won 'Best Animation' again at the HollyShorts film Festival and the 'Audience Favorite Animation' award too. And again at the Malibu Film Festival it won 'Best Animation' and 'Audience Choice Animation'. We have to assume that in the center of the beast down there in LA, the audience is pretty picky. So this is one to watch.
You can get a hint from the trailer from Kyle Bell's YouTube page. Bell is described as "a veteran filmmaker" and while the student done films are dazzling in one aspect or another, you can see a more completely filled out film here, just in the trailer. Also check out The Mouse that Soared website.
Skylight Canada 5 minutes
Director: David Baas
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
There's a lot of posts online about this film, but what I could find were either basic descriptions of what happens and/or spoilers. It's called by some a mock documentary on climate change. Just go see it and enjoy it.
Director: Arjun Rihan
Program: It’s A Wild, Wild Life
Thursday, December 10 – 5:30pm – Out North
Sunday, December 13 – 12:45pm – Out North
Program: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Animation 1
Saturday, December 5 – 5:45pm – Out North
Tuesday, December 8 – 7:45pm – Out North
From the AIFF description:
Amidst the turbulent partition of India circa 1947, a young Hindu boy has a chance encounter with a stranger.
The film maker's website is exquisite. The visuals there from the film are . . . I don't want to say exquisite again, how about 'amazing'? Go look at the website and come to see this film. And Arjun will be in the audience with you according to his blog:
Finally, I will be watching the film with an audience for the first time at the Anchorage International Film Festival (Dec 4 - Dec 17) in Alaska (also my first trip to Alaska).To whet your appetite, here's something he just put up on his blog:
"A video (created for an award application) that shows the step-by-step progress of two shots. Took forever to resurrect those old files, but it's a nice video to have."
I have a very good feeling about this film.
To see all the posts on this year's festival you can go to the label (lower right column) Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF 2009)
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Cat Lovers Should Check Out This House
I ran into this post on moderncat.net while working on my animations in competition post for the Anchorage International Film Festival. Yes, that post is still coming. But I know that this link will get the cat fan's imaginations running wild.
The photo here plus many are more in the post, "Another Amazing Cat-friendly House Design from Japan"
AIFF 2009 - Film Festivals in the You Tube Era
I've posted elsewhere about the ethics of getting clips of video for use when blogging about a movie. After all, book reviewers can take excerpts from books to make their points about the writing. They don't rely on a few excerpts that the publisher sends them. The law is murky - well, it's clear that video taping in a movie theater is illegal, but once you have the video, the First Amendment would seem to favor the blogger. All this assumes minimal amounts of video, with no intent to make money, simply to review.
The most persuasive argument to take video down came from a filmmaker a couple of years ago who said that the clauses in many film festivals forbid any movie that is available on the web, no matter how short a clip. I took it down as I would if people ask, and the request is about their material or image, I do immediately. But this year I've noticed several movies in the festival that are available online. I asked Rand (the festival program director) about this and he said he's been to workshops discussing this and that rule is crumbling because of what all is available online these days.
So my dilemma is, what should I do if I find a whole movie online? More precisely, should I post it when I'm putting something up about that movie? Just put a link? Or not mention it at all?
What are the factors that should be considered? The film is already up somewhere online and available, so I'm not responsible for that. If people want to see they can. (I'm assuming that film maker allowed the posting directly or indirectly, if not, I shouldn't post it.) I concluded there is one key issue:
Will it affect attendance at the festival? If so, how?
Arguments that it will lower attendance:
Arguments that it won't lower attendance and may increase attendance:
I have no empirical evidence to indicate what people will actually do. I have to use my own acumen to tentatively conclude, until it's proven otherwise, that the few films I post are not going to hurt attendance and may well help it. (But, being me, means as soon as I wrote that I started to google to see if there is any evidence. I didn't find anything addressing my question, but I found a lot saying that online is one of the futures of festivals, and that future is already here. See below **)
Also, I'm just one head, and I'm sure I've left out important points, so please jump in and add points I missed in the comments.
Another factor I'd add here. One purpose of this coverage of the Anchorage International Film Festival is to give people in Anchorage (and elsewhere) more information about what's playing and when so that they can save a bit of time going through that long list of movies coming next week. I assume that my readers are adults and can decide for themselves if they want to click the play button or not. I should make things easier for them, but not decide for them.
So far, I've only found a handful of films where the whole film is online (not just a trailer) - but I've only been looking at the films in competition. I won't be able to highlight more than a small percentage of the films. Once the festival starts, I'll see stuff and comment as my interest in any particular film, the serendiptiy of who I bump into, and my time allow.
**I found almost nothing in my short search about festival films being available online. I couldn't figure out the right search terms I guess. I did find this: Anna Feder, Festival Director/Programmer at the Boston Underground Film Festival, interviewed on the blog Film Festival Secrets:
It's clear, though, that more and more people are putting films online. The question that remains is what will the relationship between festivals and the online films be in the future? Live festivals offer the excitement of seeing many films in a short period, repeatedly bumping into the same people, getting to talk to the film makers. However, traveling takes time, is expensive, and is environmentally questionable. Most likely online social networkers will create a virtual film festival platform that captures much of the interaction at a real festival. The films would reach a far wider audience. So seeing things online may be the most viewed outlet for all films eventually.
There already seem to be Online Film Festivals. I'm noting a few I found, but I want to make it clear, I haven't researched to see if these are legitimate. I have no reason to suspect they aren't, but given the existence of the questionable Alaska International Film Festival website, I do want people to be cautious.
iFilm Connections: Asia & Pacific features:
The Tampa Bay Online Film Festival:
The Great Lakes Film Festival has gone online, but with security measures:
The New England Online Film Festival
And Cologne Online Film Festival:
So, I'm going to assume the world is changing and I'll go along with that change and put up whole films if I run across them and there's a reason to be posting about the film. I'm NOT going to try to find all the online films from this festival and post them. So far, I've been trying to post the films in competition in each category and I've found a few that are online and I've posted them with the entry about the particular film.
But if you have compelling reasons why I shouldn't do this, let me know.
The most persuasive argument to take video down came from a filmmaker a couple of years ago who said that the clauses in many film festivals forbid any movie that is available on the web, no matter how short a clip. I took it down as I would if people ask, and the request is about their material or image, I do immediately. But this year I've noticed several movies in the festival that are available online. I asked Rand (the festival program director) about this and he said he's been to workshops discussing this and that rule is crumbling because of what all is available online these days.
So my dilemma is, what should I do if I find a whole movie online? More precisely, should I post it when I'm putting something up about that movie? Just put a link? Or not mention it at all?
What are the factors that should be considered? The film is already up somewhere online and available, so I'm not responsible for that. If people want to see they can. (I'm assuming that film maker allowed the posting directly or indirectly, if not, I shouldn't post it.) I concluded there is one key issue:
Will it affect attendance at the festival? If so, how?
Arguments that it will lower attendance:
- If people can see the films online, they don't need to pay to see them at the festival.
- If people see festival films online and don't like them, they won't come to other films.
- Fewer audience members might come and there would be less interesting Q&A.
Arguments that it won't lower attendance and may increase attendance:
- If people can see some films online, they can go to other events playing at the same time.
- All of the films I've found were short and are part of a Program with other films, so people will have to go to see the other films anyway.
- If people like a film, they may go on the chance of seeing the filmmaker and asking questions.
- People who had no intention of going to the festival will see some and realize that these films aren't your run-of-the-mill Hollywood film and come to see some of the festival showings.
- Lots of people like to see a film more than once. If it's online, they can see it again on the big screen (itself another reason to go) and see aspects they missed the first time.
- They can tell friends who can't go, how to see a few of the films that they liked that are also online.
- People don't have to take my word for anything, they can judge for themselves. They can also judge whether they like and dislike the same things I like and dislike.
I have no empirical evidence to indicate what people will actually do. I have to use my own acumen to tentatively conclude, until it's proven otherwise, that the few films I post are not going to hurt attendance and may well help it. (But, being me, means as soon as I wrote that I started to google to see if there is any evidence. I didn't find anything addressing my question, but I found a lot saying that online is one of the futures of festivals, and that future is already here. See below **)
Also, I'm just one head, and I'm sure I've left out important points, so please jump in and add points I missed in the comments.
Another factor I'd add here. One purpose of this coverage of the Anchorage International Film Festival is to give people in Anchorage (and elsewhere) more information about what's playing and when so that they can save a bit of time going through that long list of movies coming next week. I assume that my readers are adults and can decide for themselves if they want to click the play button or not. I should make things easier for them, but not decide for them.
So far, I've only found a handful of films where the whole film is online (not just a trailer) - but I've only been looking at the films in competition. I won't be able to highlight more than a small percentage of the films. Once the festival starts, I'll see stuff and comment as my interest in any particular film, the serendiptiy of who I bump into, and my time allow.
**I found almost nothing in my short search about festival films being available online. I couldn't figure out the right search terms I guess. I did find this: Anna Feder, Festival Director/Programmer at the Boston Underground Film Festival, interviewed on the blog Film Festival Secrets:
recent trend I have noticed in submissions of which I approve: I love that filmmakers are starting to put all their materials on line. I try to discourage filmmakers from sending me these expensive wasteful glossy paper press kits when my needs are digital files of stills and trailers. We don’t want the filmmaker to bankrupt him or herself submitting to our festival. Submit early, keep the packaging simple (we care about your film – not the well designed art on the cover!), and let your work speak for itself (no lengthy introduction letter needed)!But that's materials, not the film itself.
It's clear, though, that more and more people are putting films online. The question that remains is what will the relationship between festivals and the online films be in the future? Live festivals offer the excitement of seeing many films in a short period, repeatedly bumping into the same people, getting to talk to the film makers. However, traveling takes time, is expensive, and is environmentally questionable. Most likely online social networkers will create a virtual film festival platform that captures much of the interaction at a real festival. The films would reach a far wider audience. So seeing things online may be the most viewed outlet for all films eventually.
There already seem to be Online Film Festivals. I'm noting a few I found, but I want to make it clear, I haven't researched to see if these are legitimate. I have no reason to suspect they aren't, but given the existence of the questionable Alaska International Film Festival website, I do want people to be cautious.
iFilm Connections: Asia & Pacific features:
 | an online film festival featuring independent feature-films whose content sheds light on issues of representation and the impact of globalization upon the cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands; |
The Tampa Bay Online Film Festival:
The Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival was originally built into the initial Tampa Bay Film web site, and launched with Tampa Bay Film on January 11, 2007. It became extremely popular, and was very successful. The original Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival became the most effective means for filmmakers to market and promote their films in Florida.
We’ve learned from what worked, and what didn’t. The stakes are now higher. We’re going to be the best online film festival in the United States.
The Great Lakes Film Festival has gone online, but with security measures:
Much like most other festivals, ours was limited by time in how many films we could screen at the fest. Simply put, if a film is good, it will be accepted and screened without time constraints. Films will not be available for download, but shall be presented in a video on demand system that will allow users to watch the films. The VOD system will be secured and can be viewed from any computer.
Unlike other festivals streaming films online, films in this festival cannot be downloaded, the films HAVE NO EMBEDDING CODE and our HTML code if copied and pasted, the films will not play, therefore they CANNOT be placed on other websites.
The only time and place they can be viewed is in our festival. In short, we have gone to great lengths to set this system up to protect the safety and security of each filmmaker's film always keeping the filmmaker in mind. Basically, it is just as secure as a brick and mortar theater screening, only much better.
We made the decision to screen films exclusively online because of two reasons, first we understand that filmmakers around the world pour not only all of their time and heart into their work but also most of their money. Because of financial and time constraints independent filmmakers most times find it difficult to attend the screenings of their film. Now not only can the filmmaker attend, but all of their friends and family members can as well. In addition, the number of attendees to the festival is literally limitless giving the filmmaker much more exposure for their work.
The New England Online Film Festival
2009 Festival Films
The following films have been chosen to be part of the First Online New England Film Festival. You can also view the text list of films
. . .
And Cologne Online Film Festival:
CologneOFF is a new mobil type of film & video festival acting without a static festival location. It is organised simultaneously online and offline via partner festivals & cooperations. In this way, the festival takes place when a physical partner is hosting CologneOFF and this can take place anywhere anytime –> more
So, I'm going to assume the world is changing and I'll go along with that change and put up whole films if I run across them and there's a reason to be posting about the film. I'm NOT going to try to find all the online films from this festival and post them. So far, I've been trying to post the films in competition in each category and I've found a few that are online and I've posted them with the entry about the particular film.
But if you have compelling reasons why I shouldn't do this, let me know.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Steve's Hearty Low Calorie Oatmeal Recipe
I decided after Thanksgiving night's dinner, I needed to fast. By about 2pm I thought maybe I should eat a little bit. I thought, "How about I try and stay under 500 calories?" So I looked up 500 calories diet. [They don't recommend such diets.] Oatmeal was on one of the lists.
Well, I realized last summer that recipes are big on blogs, but I've never put up a recipe. There aren't too many things that I would call 'my' recipes, but my oatmeal is different and so I started taking pictures for an oatmeal recipe post. But I forgot about it. Until now.
I checked to see how many calories this is for one bowl. It comes out to about 206 calories - give or take if you add lots of raisins, honey, or other fruit like blueberries. So here it is.
(If the pictures are too small, double click to enlarge them.)
Cooked kiwi is really good. And it's full of vitamin C.
The dry oat bran is a lot more calories per cup than the oatmeal - 231 to 150. But I only use a little bit of oat bran and added a few more calories to the count. The oat bran is that little edge outlined with yellow in the picture.
About the egg white. If you drop it into the water, especially if it didn't get beaten enough, it forms little globs. So eventually I figured out that if I put some of the oatmeal in first, then the egg white, and then the rest of the oatmeal, then I can mix it into the oatmeal nicely, then with the water. If the water is still boiling strongly, the egg will get into the water before mixing with the oatmeal.
When I checked today, I found out the raisins were 5 calories each. So you can lower the number of calories by putting in fewer raisins.
Fresh blueberries are less than a calorie per berry, so you can be more liberal with them.
The honey adds lots of calories, relative to the other ingredients. It does sweeten it up a bit, but if you cook the banana well, it sweetens things up too.
Of course you can add whatever fruit you want. A large strawberry is only 6 calories. The violet is for decoration only. Now, I have a good friend who thinks this recipe confirms my weirdness. Other friends have been more polite and actually said it was good. It probably takes some getting used to. If you are used to lots of sweet, you have to slowly adjust to less sweet.
Anyway, it's a good filling winter breakfast with very few calories. But watch out for the orange juice. Two cups is more calories than the oatmeal. (One cup is 112 calories!)
I decided I didn't need to be fanatical today so at dinner I had some soup (vegie broth was 20 calories per cup) plus some brocoli and mushrooms and a little Thai spice, and a small piece of bread. Stayed well under 500 calories. I'm a bit hungry, but I'll wait til tomorrow.
This isn't a diet for every day, but looking up all the calories is a good reminder. I'm not a big person, but that also causes me to think I can eat more than I should. And my pants get a little tighter. And with my exercise level down in winter, I need to remember that a whole apple is only 44 calories, about the same as 15 peanuts.
I got most of the calorie counts from The Calorie Counter. I did find a fair amount of difference in calories on different sites.
Well, I realized last summer that recipes are big on blogs, but I've never put up a recipe. There aren't too many things that I would call 'my' recipes, but my oatmeal is different and so I started taking pictures for an oatmeal recipe post. But I forgot about it. Until now.
I checked to see how many calories this is for one bowl. It comes out to about 206 calories - give or take if you add lots of raisins, honey, or other fruit like blueberries. So here it is.
(If the pictures are too small, double click to enlarge them.)
Cooked kiwi is really good. And it's full of vitamin C.
The dry oat bran is a lot more calories per cup than the oatmeal - 231 to 150. But I only use a little bit of oat bran and added a few more calories to the count. The oat bran is that little edge outlined with yellow in the picture.
About the egg white. If you drop it into the water, especially if it didn't get beaten enough, it forms little globs. So eventually I figured out that if I put some of the oatmeal in first, then the egg white, and then the rest of the oatmeal, then I can mix it into the oatmeal nicely, then with the water. If the water is still boiling strongly, the egg will get into the water before mixing with the oatmeal.
When I checked today, I found out the raisins were 5 calories each. So you can lower the number of calories by putting in fewer raisins.
Fresh blueberries are less than a calorie per berry, so you can be more liberal with them.
The honey adds lots of calories, relative to the other ingredients. It does sweeten it up a bit, but if you cook the banana well, it sweetens things up too.
This recipe makes two bowls. About 206 calories/bowl
with the raisins, 236 with the honey.
with the raisins, 236 with the honey.
Of course you can add whatever fruit you want. A large strawberry is only 6 calories. The violet is for decoration only. Now, I have a good friend who thinks this recipe confirms my weirdness. Other friends have been more polite and actually said it was good. It probably takes some getting used to. If you are used to lots of sweet, you have to slowly adjust to less sweet.
Anyway, it's a good filling winter breakfast with very few calories. But watch out for the orange juice. Two cups is more calories than the oatmeal. (One cup is 112 calories!)
I decided I didn't need to be fanatical today so at dinner I had some soup (vegie broth was 20 calories per cup) plus some brocoli and mushrooms and a little Thai spice, and a small piece of bread. Stayed well under 500 calories. I'm a bit hungry, but I'll wait til tomorrow.
This isn't a diet for every day, but looking up all the calories is a good reminder. I'm not a big person, but that also causes me to think I can eat more than I should. And my pants get a little tighter. And with my exercise level down in winter, I need to remember that a whole apple is only 44 calories, about the same as 15 peanuts.
I got most of the calorie counts from The Calorie Counter. I did find a fair amount of difference in calories on different sites.
After Dinner Stroll
We really needed to move after dinner, so when all the guests were gone, we took advantage of the balmy 30˚F and the fresh snow and walked over to the university. The trail is well lit, perhaps too well lit.
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